AHIP is nine months into its annual Safe At Home crowdfunding campaign. Volunteers help fix siding, install insulation, and other issues that can pop up around a home.

The program helped more than 300 people in 152 households last fiscal year, but it is having trouble keeping up with demand.

Right now AHIP says its waitlist for critical repairs stands at more than 500 in Charlottesville and Albemarle County. Its goal this year is to raise $100,000 for its Safe At Home campaign so that it can help more people in need.

"All of us know what it's like to come home when the water heater stops working, or the roof starts to leak, and it's a terrible nuisance and it can feel like a disaster. But for the people that we help this is truly a catastrophe when this sort of thing happens," AHIP Executive Director Jen Jacobs.

Albemarle Housing Improvement Program’s annual Safe At Home House Party event will be held at Verulam Farm Friday, September 30.